140 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



each when dressed. Information regarding the nidification of 

 the Fruit-Pigeons is somewhat scanty. All the species lay but 

 one egg. The nest of the Purple-breasted species is toughly 

 made of vine tendrils, but all the others are loosely constructed 

 of sticks. 



Two smaller Fruit-Pigeons are the Brown or Pheasant-tailed, 

 Macropygia phasianella, and the Red-crowned, Ptilopvs swain- 

 soni, the latter being worthy of a first place for beauty of form 

 and colouring. On its breast is a brilliant splash of orange and 

 light red, shading into yellow on the under tail coverts. The 

 throat and chest are covered with small scale-like feathers of a 

 greyish-green colour, while the back is also green, with mottlings 

 of yellow on the shoulders, and the head is crowned with a lovely 

 patch of pink, set off with orange irides and a flesh-coloured 

 beak. This little bird has several calls ; the best known perhaps 

 is a high-pitched " coo " repeated thirteen or fourteen times, 

 beginning slowly and increasing the pace as it proceeds, but 

 another is a sustained " coo-coo," with accent on the first, but 

 cutting the last " coo " short. This little pigeon, as well as the 

 other species, is found very difficult to skin, and it is only with great 

 care that a presentable specimen can be prepared. In spring- 

 time all the birds are very fat, and some have been known to 

 burst asunder on striking the ground after being shot. The 

 Brown Pigeon is of a sombre colour, with a little metallic sheen on 

 the feathers at the back of the neck ; it possesses a very large tail, 

 and has a curious habit, when alighting on a branch, of putting it 

 up, then down again, as if endeavouring to balance itself. It is 

 not a shy bird like the other pigeons, for three or four sitting to- 

 gether on a low branch by the roadside may be approached 

 without offering to move ; nor does it feed exclusively on fruit. 

 It is no uncommon thing to flush a party off the ground, and as 

 they rise, spreading their large tails, they offer a good mark for a 

 sportsman. The noise made by the Brown Pigeon is very 

 similar to that of the domestic pigeon, and it possesses a 

 " coo-oo " very similar also. There are two other species to 

 mention, but they are both seed-eating birds. The well-known 

 Wonga-Wonga, Leucosarcia picaia, is often located towards even- 

 ing by its continuous high-toned "hoo hoo " call, interrupted 

 now and again for a second or two while the bird, no doubt, 

 picks up a morsel ; and the sturdy form of the Little Green 

 Pigeon, Chalcophaps chrysochlora, is always seen darting out of 

 the scrub at feed-time and off to procure its meal. 



This institution of feed-time is well kept, and the regularity 

 with which the various birds make to their accustomed feeding 

 grounds at daybreak and again in the afternoon is very striking. 

 The Red-crowned Fruit-Pigeon and the Regent-bird, Sericulus 

 melinus, principally are in the habit of feeding on the black 



